Ten Minutes
by steptacular
Summary: After asking Chloe on a date, Clark has to stop a kryptofreak and get back to her in ten minutes. With superspeed it sounds easy right? Wrong.


Title: Ten Minutes  
  
Author: steptacular  
  
Email: andre@gensteps.co.uk  
  
Notes: This is just a fun little ficlet I thought of while having a chat with wookie!  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Disclaimer: These aren't my characters, they belong to DC Comics, the WB, Gough & Millar, and some bad writers they have helping them lord knows why.  
  
Thanks BUNCHES to Tresca, Craig and wookie for beta'ing it for me & helping with some satire ideas! Dillo's to you three!  
  
Feedback! Leave it or be made to suffer Kristen Kruek's "Snow White"!  
  
  
  
6:01 PM  
  
Clark was happy, happier than he'd been all summer. Chloe was finally coming back and if he'd calculated everything right she should be driving back in from Metropolis any minute now. He was excited; he wanted to see her, to finally spend more time with him. Ever since they had first kissed, she was literally all he thought about. She was so much more than just someone he liked now, she was his confidant. He could still remember the first time they kissed, was also the first time he shared with someone, the secrets of his powers.  
  
Three Months Earlier  
  
9:57 PM  
  
Clark had been sitting up in his loft thinking of the events of the past two days. Chloe hadn't been talking to him. He wished she would understand. Sure, he'd left the dance early, but it had been for a good reason, to save Lana. But to her that really came down to choosing Lana over Chloe. If only she knew, maybe she'd understand that he'd gone because he felt a responsibility to go, not just because he wanted to see Lana. But the only thing he could do to make Chloe see that and not hate him forever was to tell her his secret!  
  
It didn't matter what his parent's said. He knew he could trust Chloe and that she wouldn't tell anyone!  
  
Clark stood up to go.  
  
Or would she…he thought, letting himself fall back down on the couch. What if she wanted to do a story on him? He'd already had problems with reporters.  
  
But Chloe was his friend she cared about him…  
  
He got up again ready, no, determined, to go and began walking down the stairs. Chloe WOULD understand he told himself, and hopefully Chloe would forgive him….Chloe had to! She was more than just a shallow girl…  
  
Clark was so lost in his thoughts he didn't even see what was on the stairs when he bumped into it.  
  
…she was a lot more than just some shallow girl she was…  
  
"Chloe!" he exclaimed reaching out to grab his friend, that he stupidly had just bumped into.  
  
"Whoa there, Lana isn't in any danger." She replied pulling away from Clark's grasp.  
  
He didn't know what to say, he just looked at her and away quickly. He couldn't take her angry stare.  
  
"Umm…what are you doing here, Chloe?" he asked nervously.  
  
She looked beautiful, he loved the way she dressed…so casual and relaxed and…ok Clark snap out of it! You have to talk to her.  
  
"We need to talk…" they both said at the exact same time and looked up surprised.  
  
"Sure…" Clark said nodding and began walking back up the steps with Chloe following him.  
  
When they got back up to the loft he sat on the couch and left plenty of space for her to sit next to him, but she didn't. Instead she set her purse down on the floor and leaned against his small wooden table. It was remarkable how that tiny gesture cut through him like a knife…or at least what he thought a knife cut would feel like.  
  
There were a few moments of awkward silence in which he thought she was looking him up and down. Then he decided to speak.  
  
"Chloe…about the dance…I…"  
  
"The dance…" she mumbled and trailed off. He just stared at her for a second.  
  
"I…listen…Chloe…I left the dance because…"  
  
"I know why you left the dance Clark, and that's why I'm here."  
  
"Look Chloe! It really wasn't why you think."  
  
"Ooh, I know that…"  
  
"It wasn't because of Lana, Chloe…well it was but…I just didn't want anything to happen to her. I would have done the same for you! I mean you see…I have to…"  
  
"I know Clark," she whispered softly now moving onto the couch next to him, but he was so busy trying to explain, he didn't even seem to notice.  
  
"I mean it's this thing where…Lana…the tornadoes… no one could have gotten to her. I mean, well, she would have died, but I…I mean, and the meteor shower…it's complicated, but down in the storm cellar…you know?"  
  
He looked up at Chloe who was now resting her hand on his.  
  
"When you left the dance Clark, I ran out after you. I was worried about you…and Lana. I didn't want you guys getting hurt, when I got outside you weren't there so I started heading over to where the tornadoes had been sighted, I expected to find you somewhere along the side the road…but instead you weren't there…and then I saw the tornado. And…I…I saw you running into it."  
  
"Chloe…I…"  
  
"Don't worry Clark, I haven't told anyone. It's not like they'd believe me anyway."  
  
She trailed off and pulled her hand back. Clark stared up. She knew…she knew and she came straight to him.  
  
"I was furious when you left the dance. I actually wanted to make sure you were ok so I could tell you I hated you. But now I really don't think I can do that, I understand why you left…what I want to know now, is how?"  
  
Clark would tell her. He would explain everything to her as best he could, but there was something he wanted to do before he did that, something he hadn't done at the dance. He smiled and got closer to her and in an instant their lips were touching.  
  
  
  
6:03 PM  
  
Just thinking of that made Clark miss her all the more. He'd gone to visit her in Metropolis a couple of times but for some reason it wasn't the same as being home and being with her. Metropolis was so alien to him, he didn't even know if he could ever live there.  
  
He looked around to see if there was any sign of Chloe yet, and like an answer to his prayers he saw the headlights to her little red station wagon driving up the dirt road. His heart started beating fast and his palms started to sweat.  
  
"Relax, Clark," he told himself.  
  
He wanted to run up to the car, sweep her out and take her away somewhere with him, but he didn't. He just stood by the porch of her house and relaxed. When the car finally pulled up, he put his hands in his pockets. It was all he could do to keep from ripping the door off.  
  
"Clark!" Chloe squealed as she got out of the car.  
  
"Hey you, I've missed you so much!" He exclaimed running up to her and picking her up in his arms.  
  
"Ok, ok, don't break me please," she gasped.  
  
In the moment of excitement Clark had forgotten just how strong he was. Immediately he set her back down and smiled sheepishly.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she asked with a grin spread over her face.  
  
"Well…" he answered balancing himself on his heels, "I was wondering if I could take the prettiest girl in Smallville for a welcome home dinner."  
  
"Oh Clark, I just got back I have to unpack and you know something will come up with you and I'll be left there eating all alone and wishing I could stab you with my fork."  
  
"No! No! I promise; nothing will ruin our plans tonight!"  
  
The smiled faded from her face as she pondered.  
  
"Ugh…I haven't even gone in to say hi to my parents."  
  
"They're…umm…not home," Clark answered, slightly turning away.  
  
"Oh, how do you know? Oh wait weird super-powers, that's right."  
  
"Actually…I saw your dad when he was leaving. He took your mom to a movie."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"So, date?"  
  
"Fine, but let's walk into town. I've been driving for three hours."  
  
"Let's go then." Clark said locking arms with her and smiling.  
  
6:16 PM  
  
"…that's so cool; it's too bad I never got to meet your cousin though. What did you say her name was?"  
  
"Oh, you mean…"  
  
"Guys!" Lana came running out of the Talon with a worried look on her face.  
  
"What's wrong Lana?" Clark asked and Chloe inwardly rolled her eyes but tried to maintain a straight face.  
  
"The radio, they said they just spotted Greg out by the woods."  
  
"Wait a minute? Greg…Arkin?" Clark asked.  
  
"Yes, he's been attacking people. The police just headed out…but…"  
  
"It's ok Lana, go inside," Clark demanded which got a puzzled look from Lana.  
  
Chloe tried not to snort. She liked Lana but that puzzled look was on her face more than her nose.  
  
"Alright Clark," Lana nodded and headed back inside.  
  
"Chloe…" Clark started once Lana was gone.  
  
"I know Clark; I know…I told you this would happen. First day back in Smallville and already something bad is happening. Those meteor rocks always get in the way of everything. They either make a freak or a Lana Lang stalker… or both."  
  
"Chloe he's dangerous." Clark said.  
  
"It's ok. I understand, you don't want the officers getting hurt," she muttered not looking up at him.  
  
"You're the greatest you know that?" Clark said kissing her on the forehead.  
  
"I'm not going to wait forever Clark."  
  
"Just go inside, ten minutes, I promise."  
  
"Ten minutes, Clark…"  
  
6:18 PM  
  
He flashed her one last smile, made sure no one was around and sped off.  
  
Clark ran down the road as fast as he could making sure that he moved fast enough that anyone that might be wandering out would not see him. He couldn't screw this up, but Greg was dangerous and he didn't want him going after Lana again.  
  
Clark thought about the last time he had seen Greg. He was getting smushed by a falling piece of machinery. The last evidence of the boy had been hundreds of small insects scattering. That had been freshman year when he was just starting to get a hang on his superpowers. Meteor-infected bugs had bitten Greg and the entomology-obsessed boy had used his newfound meteor powers to stalk Lana and try to mate with her. If he was back now, not only was Lana in trouble, but so were his parents and anyone else Greg thought deserved some payback.  
  
  
  
6:19 PM  
  
There was nothing that was going to stop him from handling this as fast as he could so he could get back to Chloe. Nothing in this world was going to make him late…nothing…  
  
"Help!" he heard a little whimpering voice.  
  
Oh man, he thought.  
  
Clark began to slow down and started jogging to find the problem. In a small courtyard there was a little girl sitting on the floor crying.  
  
"What's wrong?" Clark asked crouching down to look at her.  
  
"My kitteh'sa stuck up in da tree!" she cried.  
  
Clark looked up to see a big cat stuck up in the apple tree.  
  
Just great, he thought to himself.  
  
Clark looked up in the tree and saw a big fat grey cat meowing for help. He hesitated for a second, "I'll get your kitten down for you."  
  
The little girl immediately stopped crying.  
  
"YAY! Sank you mis'tah!" She exclaimed and jumped up to see the rescue.  
  
Clark walked up to the tree. The trunk was too thick for him to climb, the little girl was standing behind him looking on with a big grin on her face, and back at the Talon, Chloe was waiting. He didn't have time for this…and she was only a little girl. Clark grabbed the trunk and bent it as far as he could until the cat felt safe enough to jump down.  
  
"Yay! Dillo!" the little girl yelled and to pick up her cat, "Sanks Mis'tah!"  
  
Clark smiled and sped out of there again.  
  
6:21 PM  
  
Get to back to Chloe, get back to Chloe, get back to Chloe, was all that was going through his mind as he ran down the road top speed. He really couldn't mess this chance up, she was counting on him.  
  
Ok Clark, only a little bit further to go and you'll be set.  
  
"Crap!" came a familiar voice.  
  
Crap, Clark thought and stopped running.  
  
"What's wrong dad?" He asked jogging up to his father who was kneeling down on the road changing a flat on his new truck.  
  
"Son? What are you doing out here?"  
  
"Well, I'm trying to go take care of something and Chloe's waiting for me at the Talon and…"  
  
"That's nice; listen son…could you take these bags of chicken feed to your mother? The car has a flat and it's gonna take me a while to get used to these new contraptions. And we all know, God helps those who help themselves"  
  
"But dad!"  
  
"Now son, I'm sure pleasure can wait. The early bird gets the worm, or uhh... Life is full of surprises. And I mean, your mother and I have sacri…Son?"  
  
By the time Jonathan Kent looked up it was too late, the chicken feed bags were gone and his son was three miles up the road.  
  
6:22PM  
  
Go Clark, go, you can stop by the house after you go to see if Greg is around, he thought. Now how to find him? He thought as he approached the woods. Then he heard a loud bang and crack from inside.  
  
At least something's going my way; he thought and set the bags of feed down before speeding into the woods.  
  
There was Greg, in all his buggy goodness knocking one of the last cops out. Clark sighed.  
  
"Greg!" Clark shouted.  
  
Greg spun around and hissed.  
  
Just great, Clark thought.  
  
"Kent!" Greg yelled with bloodlust in his voice and hopped high into the air and landed in front of Clark.  
  
"Listen Greg, I really don't have time for this…" Clark started before Greg punched him and sent him flying straight into a pine, causing it to shatter and tumble.  
  
"You thought you could get rid of me Kent, but you can't! Lana's going to be mine, you'll see! I'm evolution…I'm a new species!"  
  
Clark really didn't have time for this, as Greg ranted he wrapped his arms around the fallen pine.  
  
"I'll take over Smallville and you'll all wish…"  
  
SWAT!  
  
Clark swung the pine down on him….hard.  
  
There was no more noise, no more talking. Clark looked down on the floor and saw bugs scattering away, just like they had last time.  
  
"I can deal with it later," Clark said to himself. "Now Chloe."  
  
6:24PM  
  
Clark ran out of the woods picked up the chicken feed and began running as fast as he could towards the Kent Farm. God, Chloe's gonna kill me.  
  
When he approached the Kent Farm, he saw his mother sitting outside sweeping up around the barn.  
  
"Clark!" she said. "How was Chloe?"  
  
"I actually have to get back to her…" Clark said setting down the feed.  
  
"Great! Then you wouldn't mind taking these letters and dropping them off in a mailbox while you're in town would you? The mailman just stops by here so late." Martha Kent, told her son as she handed him a stack of letters.  
  
"Actually, mom…"  
  
"Please, you know it won't take you more than a minute," she pleaded pursing her lips and looking at her son.  
  
"Ok mom," he sighed.  
  
"Thanks sweetie!" Martha shouted after her son as he sped off. "Be careful!"  
  
6:25 PM  
  
I'm going to die. Forget the meteor rocks, I'm going to die, Chloe's going to kill me. Clark thought as he finally ran back into town. He stopped at the first mail box he saw and threw the envelopes in.  
  
Perfect! Now to get back to the Tal…  
  
"HELP FIRE!"  
  
Great.  
  
Clark stopped and ran back to where the scream had come from. There were people running out of the Beanery screaming. For a second he considered to just keep going, the fire trucks would be here soon enough…but he couldn't. He ran up and when no one was looking broke a fire hydrant open and twisted it so that the water would hit the building, the quickly used his x-ray vision to see if anyone was still in there. When he saw that everyone had gotten out, he started to jog away but bumped into someone.  
  
"Lex!" Clark said.  
  
"Clark, nice to see you." Clark watched as Lex swept his eyes down Clark's body slowly and then back up to focus on his lips.  
  
Shuffling uncomfortable, Clark said, "Yeah listen Lex, I kinda, have to go I'm late for a…"  
  
Lex smiled and stared harder at Clark. "It's ok you don't owe me an explanation. If you're worried about Chloe, I just saw her, she's fine, just talking to Lana who seems a little bothered by something. Is everything ok Clark?"  
  
"Everything is fine Lex…" Clark said bouncing on his feet wanting to get going again.  
  
"Well if you need to talk about something, you can talk to me. You know Alexander the great had a friend who…"  
  
Just as Lex was about to go into his story a shiny black Mercedes Benz CLK convertible pulled up on the street next to them. Inside was a man with bushy, flowing salt and pepper hair. Clark immediately recognized him as Lionel Luthor, now fully recuperated from the injuries he had sustained during the storm.  
  
Lex rolled his eyes and Clark couldn't help but to smirk.  
  
Lionel threw his glasses down into the passenger's side seat, then pulled out a test tube from somewhere along the dash board.  
  
"LEX son, is THIS your idea of a JOKE!?" Lionel demanded, running his finger down the length of the tube.  
  
Lex looked at Clark and then back to his father.  
  
"Uh, Lex…I have to go now." Clark said and before Lex had any time to protest he was jogging down the street and closer to the Talon. It didn't matter if his skin was impervious to bullets; he wasn't going to get in the way of feuding Luthors.  
  
  
  
6:27 PM  
  
Almost there.  
  
Clark stopped, this part of the town was more crowded and he didn't want anyone to see him.  
  
He paused as he saw something speeding towards him out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly a jeep barreled off the road, seeming to come out of nowhere, and headed straight towards him. Clark braced himself as the vehicle impacted him. He sighed as he looked at the driver's seat and saw Whitney, who was on a one week leave from the Marines, lying there in an unconscious heap. The blonde was wearing army fatigues and had a bleeding gash over his right eye. Clark pulled him from the jeep just before it exploded into a big ball of fire. Depositing Whitney on the sidewalk, he continued walking in the direction of the Talon.  
  
Finally.  
  
Only 2 blocks to go, Clark was excited, he'd made it in time. As he rounded the corner to cross the street to get to the Talon he saw his friend Pete Ross, who hopped at seeing Clark.  
  
"Can't talk right now, Pete, in a hurry."  
  
Pete didn't say a word instead just stared after Clark, surprised.  
  
Clark got to the crosswalk and as he started going.  
  
"Excuse me dear…" came a voice from behind him.  
  
Clark turned to see an old lady with a walker approaching him.  
  
"Could you please help me cross the street?"  
  
Clark just smiled and grabbed her hand. When they reached the other side of the road, she thanked him and Clark ran into the Talon.  
  
"Chloe!" He yelled.  
  
"Hey!" she smiled and waved.  
  
"So Clark, what happened?" Lana asked jumping in front of him as he walked to Chloe.  
  
"Oh erm…nothing it wasn't Greg, false alarm."  
  
"Oh thank goodness I thought…" But Lana was left talking to herself.  
  
Clark sat down next to Chloe.  
  
"So?" she asked him.  
  
"Well…I got back in time…"  
  
"Actually its 6:29, you're a minute late."  
  
Clark's face dropped. "But…but…but…"  
  
"It's ok though, you can't save the world in ten minutes." Chloe said and smiled at him. 


End file.
